BLOGCRITICS.COM, April 28, 2008
Concert Review:  Dale Watson, Phoenix, AZ
Rhythm Room, April 22, 2008
by Benjamin Cossel

Ask Dale Watson if he can spare any change and you just might get lucky. Such was the case for one fan, April 22 at the Rhythm Room in Phoenix when Watson and his Lone Stars took to the stage for a typical marathon performance.

Watson is the cowboy with no cowboy hat. His boots, plain black with no frills, have the high gloss of paten leather. You won’t find him wearing one of those god-awful, garish “cowboy” shirts so popular on the Nashville scene. Nope, Watson prefers a simple shirt with his signature black leather vest and thigh length top-coat. And then there is the guitar. A Fender Telecaster to be exact with some modifications (see Comment below*). Coins are glued all around the body and on this night in Phoenix, one fell off and was offered to an unsuspecting audience member, “Hey buddy, spare a buck?”

Hailing from the great state of Texas, where everything is larger including the performances, Watson and the band started the show a bit on the early side, hitting their first song at the 8:05 pm mark. To the unknowing fan, one could assume that they were in for a typical hour or so set, leaving the bar ‘round 9:30 or so and safely in bed by ten. Wow, these country music fans are a bunch of fuddy-duddies right? Not so fast my man, Watson and his gang shut the place down, and for the most part, the audience hung in there with them.

Steeped in country music history as well as more than ten albums of his own, Watson maintains a library of songs at his immediate disposal ensuring each night is a bit different, each show a bit unique, and when the calls from the audience come, he and the band are ready. Throughout the evening, audience members called out their favorite Watson tune and the band obliged. At one point, Watson had to stop and put the requests in order as they flew at him fast and furious; the audience had caught a groove. That's not to say Watson didn't have some idea's of his own as he featured several tracks from his recent Cradle to the Grave (http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/05/08/162350.php) and a couple times told the audience he would play their request after he did "this" song.

Often, there’s a disconnect between the artist’s recorded material and the live performance. Not so here. Watson’s golden baritone rumbled out of his microphone as clear as any recording and the band of Gene Kurtz on bass, Don Don Pawlak on pedal steel guitar, Don Raby on the fiddle and Herb Belofsky on drums backed their band leader with an intensity and tightness that only comes from many years together in the back of the tour van.

Watson and the band continue crossing the country through April then heading back to their home base of Texas for a month-long series of dates around the state. From there, a smattering of shows throughout the summer culminates in August with an appearance at Seattle’s fast rising arts and music festival, Bumbershot, Aug. 31.

Watson’s shows don’t have the raucous feel of a Hank III show nor do they have the punk rock attitude that runs through many of the roots country acts on the road today. What they do have is a man with a golden voice singing honest songs about a place we all know about in such a way, with an open dance floor, you can slide your arm around the small of your darlin’s back, pull ‘em in close and tight and do a slow dance across time. Do yourself a favor, head over to Watson’s website and find a date near you.

*Comment from Gene: Dale's guitar is NOT a Fender Telecaster. It's a custom-built guitar made by Allan Tomkins of Australia. The shape of the guitar is similar to a Telecaster, and the coins were added later by Dale himself.

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER,  April 3, 2008
Music Feature:  "Dale Watson summons country's ghost to the Thunderbird Café"
April 2, 2008
by Justin Hopper

As country music consumes itself in tireless cycles of big hats and arenas, alt-roots and college bars, the question of authenticity comes up as often as the question of talent; earning that cowboy hat is often more important than writing a decent song. For Dale Watson, it's never been worth crying in your beer over, yet the question of authenticity is one he's often asked -- and to which he's often the answer.

A ghost haunts Watson, appearing in the corners of his songs and his voice -- in part, it's the collective ghost of Johnny Cash, Roy Nichols and the heavenly host of country musicians who've crossed the river Jordan since the dawn of the 21st century. The Austin, Texas, songwriter's recent album, From the Cradle to the Grave, was recorded in a Tennessee cabin that once belonged to the Man in Black, and, as Watson said, "his presence was so strong up there, I decided ... [to] go with the feeling." But the whole of Watson's haunting is something more grand.

Decidedly influenced by the "golden age" of honky-tonk singers (Lefty Frizzell) along with Bakersfield (Buck Owens) and the renegades (Cash, Merle Haggard), Watson's aching-heart sound, washed in pedal-steel guitars and crisp brushed drums, immediately earned him a small but dedicated following. He became famous playing truck stops, from Texas to I-80 in Western PA. But he became legend by performing as many as six weekly four-hour gigs in Austin.

His songs rank alongside those of Billy Joe Shaver or Haggard -- and few others. And his voice resonates with deep, dusky regret, the kind of voice that can convincingly declare, "[You're] burnin' the candle at both ends, son / when you gonna learn that the fire is hot / If you always do what you've always done / you'll always get what you've always got."

In the spirit of that lyric, rather than beat his head against a wall with the country-music establishment, Watson has dealt with it by walking away. "I'm too country now for country / just like Johnny Cash" he sang in "Nashville Rash," 13 years ago. With Cradle, Watson went a step further and declared his music a new genre, "Ameripolitan," and rejected any concept of success outside of his own: great original songs rendered in a classic American style.

Wrestling with nomenclature should never be a musician's job, but the fact that Watson has withdrawn entirely from what he now calls "the 'c' word" is a harsh statement about the condition of America's roots music. As No Depression and Harp magazines disappear in a wisp of disinterest, it seems that even the "alt-" can't save country music. Perhaps it's time the truck-stop singers and honky-tonk entertainers distanced themselves from the industry that has done so much damage with its carrots and sticks, and set about re-forging America's music with fewer big hats and "alt-" tags, and more truly gifted singers and songs -- with Dale Watson as their guide.

AUSTIN CHRONICLE, August 31, 2007
"Hey, Hey, Hey!"
Roy Head and Gene Kurtz still "Treat Her Right"
Feature Story by Margaret Moser

Page One .pdf		Page Two pdf		Page Three pdf

POP ENTERTAINMENT.COM, July 4, 2007
Dale Watson:  Lone Star State of Mind
Interview

COUNTRY MUSIC PEOPLE, June 2007
CD of the Month
From the Cradle To The Grave

A few years ago if anyone had asked Dale Watson to categorize his music he would not have hesitated in defining it as 'country'.  However, his increasing frustration with the music being promoted as country these days is reflected in the sepia sleeve of his latest album which shows him suitably dressed in funeral black, walking away from a headstone on which is engraved Country Music R.I.P.

As if there aren't enough defining categories within country music, Dale has now coined a new term for his music -- ­Ameripolitan. He would argue that it is not retro or traditional. and certainly not contemporary; it is simply what he has always believed to be country music, a belief he has stuck to throughout his career and one which he clearly demonstrates on this CD. 

Phillip John Clapp, aka Johnny Knoxville, the madcap creator of Jackass, the popular TV show, and now something of a Hollywood celebrity, was a close friend of the late Johnny Cash. He bought a cabin in Hendersonville from Cash and, being a colleague and admirer of Dale Watson, invited him to record an album there. Watson was delighted at the prospect but, although it hadn't been his intention to write any new material, he tells us that once he and his Lonestars were ensconced in the cabin he felt the spirit of Johnny Cash and his music coursing through his veins. 

Within three days he had composed ten songs for this album with just one co-write, You Always Get What You Always Got, on which he was joined by Gail Davies, Chris Scruggs and Chuck Meade.

The lyrics and melodies seemed to flow from him and, without intending to sound like Cash tracks, time and again that's the way they turned out.

For the most part the songs are dark, somber and deal with subjects that few mainstream country artists today would dare to handle.  They cut straight to the bone with no wasted words - the longest of them has a playing time of just three minutes, yet every one speaks volumes.

Watson's resonant baritone occasionally sounds uncannily like that of Cash although he has a wider range than his hero. The similarity is unmistakable on the opening track, the staccato Justice For All, which deals with the moral conflict between revenge and forgiveness which plagues a man whose child has been murdered. This is now a video enjoying rotational play on CMT, so hopefully Dale will be seen and heard by a much wider audience than has been the case in the past

One hears the Cash influence again very clearly on the title track, written by way of homage to one of Watson's cousins who committed suicide.  The booming, authoritative voice is arresting, particularly since Watson himself came perilously close to death himself in December 2000 and the empathy he infuses into the delivery is sobering. Strong echoes of Cash are manliest again in Yellow Mama, the brightly colored electric chair which is still used in Alabama, and surfaces again on the closing Runaway Train, which ends with snatches from three of Cash's best known songs.

In September 2000, Dale's fiancée Terri Herbert died tragically and it took the singer a long time to get back on his feet. One might feel that in Time Without You Dale is empathizing with Cash following the death of June but I rather think it relates to Dale still mourning his own loss.

There are some songs where I one can detect Dale's influences like Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings but, ultimately, this is pure Dale Watson, mature, meditative and compelling. The only less serious song is Hollywood Hillbilly, a sort of playful tribute to his friend Johnny Knoxville.

Lonestars Don Don Pawlak, Don Raby, Jon Blondell, Gene Kurtz and John McTigue, with Dale playing his own lead guitar, are superb and perfectly capture the spirit of country music before it was usurped by those who either never understood it or, if they did, couldn't care less.

With this album Dale Watson demonstrates that, despite what the cover of From The Cradle To The Grave may proclaim, country music is still very much alive and well.
***** (Five Stars)
- Al Moir

AUSTINCHRONICLE.COM:  Dale Watson Record Release
Continental Club, Austin, TX  10:00 PM
April 27, 2007

Nobody could argue that Dale Watson hasn't lived up to his end of the bargain when it comes to keeping Austin weird. He may not parade around in a chartreuse banana hammock, twirl flowers on Sixth Street, or spout paranoid vitriol on late night access TV, but Dale still has enough quirks to peak most people's freak meter. Unlike many of his country contemporaries, Dale brings it old skool 24/7. He rocks a Jethro (that'd be Beverly Hillbillies and not Tull) style pompadour, the upkeep of which probably requires vintage hair products found only on eBay or maybe a dusty bottom shelf in the back of some bordertown farmacia. He tools around on a big, fat Indian motorcycle, an anachronistic steel Clydesdale that looks like if was hand-crafted out of pig iron and buffed to a pearly shine by a small-town blacksmith from the 1950s. He wears vintage clothes (or maybe they just look vintage when he's wearing them) even when it's blistering hot or freezing cold and every song he sings sounds like classic country regardless of what style music he's singing. Most importantly, he never breaks character because he is the character. Unlike his idols, Watson wasn't born in a sharecropper's shack and he didn't spend time in San Quentin. He's a city boy born in Alabama and raised in the smoky stank of Pasadena, Texas, but, in the words of country legend David Allan Coe, "If that ain't country, it's a damn good joke.” Watson may be a living caricature of a classic country singer, but he's definitely not a joke. Sure, he's gone a little batshit crazy in recent years - and with good reason - but no one has ever doubted his sincerity. In fact, one of the things people love most about Dale Watson is that he can't be anything other than Dale Watson. That's a rare commodity in a time when most peoples’ intellectual and moral compasses are spinning off the post. Dale's compass is always true north, and that makes him something of a freak, but maybe a freak isn't such a bad thing to be, especially not in Austin. As weird as he is, fundamentally Dale is a really nice guy who went through some really hard times and came out reasonably intact. He's the kind of stuff country music legends are made of, and if country music ever comes back in style, Dale will be carrying the standard. This Friday he'll be at the Continental Club celebrating the release of his latest CD, From the Cradle to the Grave, which features 10 songs written by Dale in three days at Johnny Cash's cabin in the Mountains of Tennessee - a cabin owned by Johnny Knoxville. Weird? Yes, but weird is often how legends are made.


ALLMUSIC.COM:  Review
From The Cradle To The Grave (Hyena)

If the ghost of Johnny Cash hovers throughout the grooves of From the Cradle to the Grave, that's not coincidental. The recording was made in a Hendersonville, TN, cabin once owned by the late country icon -- all the better to showcase Dale Watson's deep, Cash-like baritone -- and the no-frills settings Watson brings to the songs bear more than a faint echo of the Man in Black: on "Hollywood Hillbilly" that might as well be the minimalist Tennessee Three twanging behind the singer, and ol' JC even gets name-checked in the lyrics (as do Willie, Hank, and Lefty, but still...). Then there's the story that introduces the record: "Justice for All," a tale of righteousness fighting the good fight against vengeance and coming up short. But to peg From the Cradle to the Grave as a Cash tribute and nothing more would be to sell it short. The Austinite's been at it for a long time himself, and his renegade credentials are well established and verifiable. The song material here may ring familiar -- "Yellow Mama," is, after all, an ode to an electric chair -- and so may the voice, but Watson puts enough of his own personality into his delivery that the album is never in danger of being saddled with a copycat tag. Watson can't help it if he's got good taste in influences, but he's sharp and smart enough to pay his respects while also shaking free of them, and he leaves no doubt whose album this is.
 - Jeff Tamarkin

THE9513.COM:  Review
From The Cradle To The Grave (Hyena)

Dale Watson - From The Cradle To The Grave Ten songs in three days. That’s how long it took Watson to write the tracks for his latest album, From the Cradle to the Grave. Watson wrote/recorded all the songs in a cabin formerly owned by Johnny Cash (currently owned by Johnny Knoxville). He says at first he was adamant about not writing or recording anything remotely reminiscent of Johnny Cash. He didn’t want to be dismissed as trying to cop his vibe, but claims Cash’s presence was so strong he just went with it.

The album has Johnny Cash written all over it; I dig it. The opening song, “Justice For All” sports the classic boom-chuck sound of Cash; something that’s borrowed often throughout the album. A few songs later on the title track, “From the Cradle to the Grave,” Cash’s presence reappears as Watson leans heavily on “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town” for influence. And, in the closing seconds of “Runaway Train” Watson directly acknowledges Cash when he enters into a religious like chant and sings the words “I hear that train a comin’ / hey Porter, oh Porter / yea I don’t care if I do die.”

Some people might be put off by this obvious “channeling” of the Man in Black, but Watson pulls it off and I can’t think of anyone who could’ve done a better job at tackling the sound. Contrary to what the album cover artwork might lead you to believe, country music is still alive; those who have heard From The Cradle to the Grave can testify to that. My single beef with the album is that it consists of only ten tracks (the longest two come in right at three minutes) and seems rather short.
**** (Four Stars)
 - Brody Vercher, April 12th, 2007

AMAZON.COM:  Review
From The Cradle To The Grave (Hyena)

Though Dale Watson has long been a torchbearer for classic country, a throwback to the sounds of the 1960s and '70s, never before has he channeled so much inspiration from the late Johnny Cash. Recorded in Cash's cabin (since bought by Watson's actor buddy Johnny Knoxville), the songs really heavily on Cash's signature "boom-chicka-boom" rhythm, and the arrangements occasionally employ the sort of mariachi brass that evokes "Ring of Fire." Themes of life and death permeate the material. The title cut could have been a Cash outtake, while the "Runaway Train" finale pays him explicit tribute. Elsewhere, Watson changes pace by injecting some Waylon Jennings into "You Always Get What You Always Got," and lightening things up with "Hollywood Hillbilly." Watson's baritone and band are in fine form throughout.
 - Don McLeese

AUSTINCHRONICLE.COM - Review
"Texas Platters"
From The Cradle To The Grave (Hyena)

Austin's honky-tonk troubadour has always been enamored with the greats – Johnny, Elvis, George, Hank – but who knew that 10 days in a Tennessee cabin once belonging to the Man in Black would peak Dale Watson's self-coined Ameripolitan. Watson's 12th proper LP, From the Cradle to the Grave, pays homage to Cash with train beats and comfort tunes, a stew of classic Bakersfield country and vintage Western swing. Opening with chugging shuffle "Justice for All," Cradle matches Watson's baritone with mariachi horns. Throw in a bossa nova ("It's Not Over Now"), pure-Dale heartbreaker "Time Without You," and a good-time ride with a jar of moonshine ("Hollywood Hillbilly"), and you're verging on lifetime achievement. He nearly did it on 2004's Dreamland, but Cradle to Grave is Watson in all his tight-jeaned, leather-chapped, tattooed glory.
**** (Four Stars)
 - Darcie Stevens

NEWS8AUSTIN.COM:  Feature
DALE WATSON'S LATEST ALBUM STRIKES A NEW CHORD

In January 2006, Dale Watson took six months away from playing live to tend to his family in Baltimore. He returned to music reinvigorated and to make From the Cradle to the Grave, what many are calling the best record of his career.

In Austin, we know Watson as a honky-tonk crusader. But the rest of the world just calls him good ol' country. It's a tag Watson says doesn't quite fit. It's not like he and Wayne Hancock, or James Hand and The Derailers are on country radio or touring with Keith Urban or Brooks and Dunn. So Watson has taken it upon himself to rebrand the music Dale Watson and friends play.

“In a struggle to find the word to describe it I've come up with Ameripolitan. There's no preconceived notion when you say that word. I'm hoping that it will stick and that it will be a genre we can build on and be proud of. It means original music with prominent roots influence,” he said.

Changing His Tune

Dale Watson's newest album invokes the spirit of Johnny Cash with his own style of honky-tonk.

Watson's brand new record celebrates the spirit of Johnny Cash. Literally. From the Cradle to the Grave was recorded at the Tennessee mountain home once owned by Johnny Cash. Watson says he didn't plan on copping the Man in Black's vibe, but believes the plans may have been out of his hands.

“When you walk into that cabin, you can feel his presence there. There was no fighting it. Every song we did had a strange Roger Miller, Waylon or Johnny Cash stamp to it. There was definitely a Johnny Cash vibe to it. So I just quit fighting it and went with it. I'm glad I did - it wouldn't have made sense to go up there and record a record of Texas shuffles. That's not what was in the air,” he said.

Dale Watson plays the Continental Club Monday night. From the Cradle to the Grave is available now in Austin. It'll be released nationally April 24.

While Watson's record may be a departure, he says the rest of his career is business as usual. He's taking Ameripolitan to the people one show at a time, six or seven nights a week.

“It's fun. It's always been fun. And it's renewed fun now because I really think we're making headway. As I get older, it gets a little tougher, especially if you do it like I do it. The shortest show we play is two or three hour show, so it takes its toll a little bit. But I love it. Always will,” he said.
 - Andy Langer

..."solid, consistent live set of barroom country recorded in Holland"

This is a live record recorded in Club Newland in Klaaswaal, Holland, on October 28th 2005, remixed, presumably, because it was initially the soundtrack to a live DVD.  Holland it may have been, but Dale Watson treats it as if it's Texas, opening the show saying “Can I get a ‘Hell Yeah!’?”, the audience proving that the language of country music is indeed an international one.

There isn’t a great deal to say about this record, its exactly what you’d expect it would be, the real deal from an experienced old stager with decades of playing behind him. Its solid, boot/jeans/t-shirt/barroom country, with pedal steel, fiddle, twanging guitar, all well played and well sung. There’s one non-original which the sleeve notes refer to as the ‘Mandatory Merle Song’, which is the aptly titled ‘I Take A Lot Of Pride In What I Am’. Hank III has referred to Dale as ‘the savior of traditional country music’, you can hear why on this record, its very much in the vein of Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard, there’s even a dash of Elvis in his voice, he can croon too, ‘You Pour Salt In The Wound’ is almost Jim Reeves territory. Traditional is the word to bear in mind, Dale doesn’t attempt to move anything forward, but more keep the flame burning.  If you have a need for some real country this is well worth it, a two-disc collection that lasts a total of around 90 minutes, and the standard doesn’t drop throughout.
- Patrick Wilkins, www.americana-uk.com

THE9513.COM:  Performance Review
DALE WATSON AND HIS LONESTARS AT THE BROKEN SPOKE

Brody, his girlfriend, and I went to watch Dale Watson the other night at the renowned Texas honky-tonk, The Broken Spoke, here in Austin. I don’t even know how to begin describing the place, but it’s an experience unlike any that you’d find anywhere else. The Broken Spoke proves that appearances can be deceiving since it looks as run down as a shanty in Hooverville, with the ceiling barely above six feet in some places, and its hodge podge of particle board and sheet metal that make up the walls. Despite its appearances, it’s a happenin’ place to be just about every night of the week thanks to the music. You can find artists like Bruce Robison, Dale Watson, The Derailers, along with local artists gracing it’s stage.

There aren’t many dancehalls left and The Broken Spoke is one of them. It doesn’t try to pretend to be anything else and that’s why the people come there; they want to dance. This makes the listening experience a little different since the speakers are pointed at the dance floor and picking up the vocals on the side is a little difficult. I’m a no dancin’ white fool, so jumping out there was out of the question. Besides, getting shown up by an 80 year old regular that could out-dance just about anyone in the building wasn’t in my plans for the night.

I marveled at how down to earth Dale Watson seemed as he interacted with the crowd, taking pictures, signing pictures, and just plain socializing. When he kicked off the music, the dance floor became packed while Watson sang country songs the way they were meant to be sung. He interacted with the crowd from the stage, taking requests, downing shots, and chatting it up. He covered songs like “Heartaches By The Numbers,” “Act Naturally” with James White, and one from Johnny Bush’s new album that he wrote, “Tequila Teardrops,” as well as a few originals like “Honky Tonk Wizard of Oz,” “Whiskey or God,” “Honky Tonkers Don’t Cry,” and even had one about the Billy Joe Shaver shooting incident. That’s what I call turnaround time.

We left after a couple of hours, but Dale and dancers were still going strong. Dale Watson is what country music is about and he definitely knows how it should sound. When Matt asked who the Opry would induct next, I threw out Dale Watson’s name as a good candidate. It’s unlikely that he’ll get the nod, but nothing I’ve seen or heard from him would make him unworthy of such an honor. Other links to check out are Brody’s review of his latest album, From The Cradle To The Grave, and this short video detailing Dale Watson’s career on Twang Nation.
 - Brady Vercher, April 23, 2007

CMT.COM:  Feature
Nashville Skyline
DALE WATSON SECEDES FROM COUNTRY MUSIC

So, maverick country traditionalist Dale Watson is seceding from country music?

"It would be more accurate to leave country out of it," Watson was quoted as saying in The Exponent, Purdue University's campus newspaper in West Lafayette, IN. "They own it now, and you can't change it. They've stolen country. To me, it automatically means crap."

On his Web site, he further elaborated, "And finally ... the name for the genre. ... I've been trying to come up with a name [that] best describes this music that me and folks similar do. When folks ask, I hesitate, down right embarrassed really, to say country. I didn't used to be, but with the change in country, the term doesn't mean the same as it used to. If you say traditional or old or Western swing, most folks think 'retro' and dismiss it without hearing it. I wanted a name that didn't say country anything and didn't give anyone a preconceived idea. I came up with ... Ameripolitan. I even put it in Wikipedia defined as original music with 'prominent' roots influence. I hope y'all like it."

Well, all right. Why the hell not? "Ameripolitan" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, though. I think there might be a better term for it. Perhaps you have some great ideas for alternatives. Why don't you think on that, and send me suggestions. The best answers will be rewarded with some good stuff. Send your ideas to interact@cmt.com, with my name in the message header.

Which leads to this question:  If you call country music by any other name, is it still country music? I submit that it is. Different wings of country have been called many different things over the years, even apart from bluegrass, Western swing, and honky-tonk. There's been countrypolitan, the Nashville sound, town & country, new country, country pop, outlaw country, country rock, urban cowboy, young country, No Depression, Americana, alt-country, roots country, roots-rock, new traditionalists, etc., etc. And when the day is done, it's still all country music.

Oh, and all this was to publicize Watson's upcoming album release, "From the Cradle to the Grave", due on April 24. And it's a good album. I've always liked Dale, and it's good to hear this from him. He recorded it at Johnny Cash's Nashville cabin, which is now owned by Johnny Knoxville. Go figure.
- Chet Flippo, Editorial Director